She lifted up the covered plate in her hands. "Not unless you can reach through the app and take these."
He smiled even though she couldn't see him. "I could let you in if you want."
She frowned again and Sam wanted to reach through the camera to smooth the wrinkles she was making in the bridge of her nose. "You can do that?"
Sam opened up another app on his phone and unlocked the door.
The whirring mechanism and the heavy click of the lock startled her.
She stepped back and looked both ways before turning back to the camera box mounted beside the door frame. "Did you just unlock your door?"
"Yes." He nodded and silently sighed. She was skittish like a colt or a small animal sensing danger around them. "If you want to leave that inside, you're welcome to."
She hesitated, her head turning side to side. "Said the spider to the fly."
A smile touched his lips, but the sight of her worried expression changed his feelings.
"I'm sorry," he murmured the words. "You can tug the doorknob toward you and the door will lock on its own."
She relaxed at that. "I probably should have introduced myself first."
He smiled. "Oh, yeah. I should have done that, too." He saw her smile then. Maybe it was the soft groan or his self-depreciating tone. "I'm Sam Wister, Miss. I'm at work, here at Fire Station Seven."
Her eyes widened at that. "A firefighter?"
Sam nodded and realized that she wouldn't have seen that since there wasn't a screen on the other side.
He wished that there was so she could see his expression while they talked.
"Yeah. I'm a firefighter for San Antonio Fire Department. I'll be back in the morning after my shift is over."
He watched her nod slowly a few times as if she was processing the information.
"If you want to wait until then, I can talk to you face to face."
That seemed to shock her.
She took another step back and he moved the camera angle so he could see how much of his porch floor she had behind her.
He didn't want her to fall off his porch and get hurt.
"Uhh... Maybe I can just leave this inside. Is there a table in your foyer?"
He smiled at her words. "I have a table just to the left of the door, inside. "I usually drop my keys there-"
"You really should be more careful about who you share that kind of information with."
"I'm not worried about you, Miss..."
She shook her head rapidly back and forth, each movement probably no more than an inch. "That's not a good idea. You don't even know me, Mister Wister."
"Sam, please."
She let out a slow, shaky breath.
"Please call me Sam."
He watched while she considered his words and the play of subtle emotions across her face was fascinating.
